


Tutor

by onceuponatime



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: But it's there, Feelings, Fluff, M/M, Smut, Suicide, badboy!Michael, cause he looks really cute in glasses, cause he looks really hot in leather, handjob, nerd!luke, not detailed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-30 22:08:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3953545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onceuponatime/pseuds/onceuponatime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“And you agreed to do it because?” Ashton says, rubbing his apple on his sweater before taking a bite. His chemistry textbook lies open on the grass in front of him but his eyes are too busy looking over to the football field, where Calum is currently engrossed in a game. When he sees Ashton looking, he smiles and waves, and Ashton’s face turns bright red. Luke chuckles.<br/>“Cause I need the money. And it looks good on college applications.” Luke lays down on the grass, putting his head in Ashton’s lap.<br/>“Yeah, but it’s him. He’s failed every test this year.” </p><p>Luke tutors Michael in math.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tutor

**Author's Note:**

> There's mentions suicide in this. It's not in great detail, but it's there, so please don't read my shitty piece of fiction if it makes you feel bad in any way :(
> 
> And I also have no idea how the exam/result gettting/ college thing goes in Australia and you know, didn't really wanna read up on it so for these 11000 words just go with it

“And you agreed to do it because?” Ashton says, rubbing his apple on his sweater before taking a bite. His chemistry textbook lies open on the grass in front of him but his eyes are too busy looking over to the football field, where Calum is currently engrossed in a game. When he sees Ashton looking, he smiles and waves, and Ashton’s face turns bright red. Luke chuckles.

“Cause I need the money. And it looks good on college applications.” Luke lays down on the grass, putting his head in Ashton’s lap.

“Yeah, but it’s _him_. He’s failed every test this year.”

“Mr. Jones said that he asked for tutoring, so he must care a little. And he was gonna do it himself, but he’s already got after school stuff on. He asked, and I said I would. Although, I didn’t know who I was gonna be tutoring when I agreed.”

“Smart on Jonesy’s part. Aw man, I wish I could see his face when he sees it’s you and not Mr. Jones. You’re gonna be murdered, and it’s no one’s fault but your own. You’re too nice, you need to learn to say no.”  Ashton takes his eyes from Luke when he hears someone approaching, and Luke lifts his head from Ashton’s lap to see Calum walking towards them, red faced and sweaty.

“Hey guys, what’d I miss?” Calum asks as he sits down beside Ashton and steals his bottle of water.

“We’re just talking about how Clifford is gonna murder Luke before their study date is even over, and how Luke will gladly let him.”

“Christ, Hemmings. Still hung up on that dickwad?”

“Hey,” Luke protests, crossing his legs and sitting across from Calum. “He’s not that bad. Just a little... Abrupt. And it’s not a date!”

“Abrupt? Luke, he’s an ass. The only reason he hasn’t been expelled for his hair, or never wearing proper uniform, or talking back to teachers, or just being him in general, is because his mom is dating the principal.” Calum says, and Luke sees him scoot a little closer to Ashton. Because he’s feeling good today, he doesn’t say anything. As much as they rag on him for pining over Michael, they’ve been pining over each other since they met fourteen years ago, and Luke has a hard time holding his tongue when they act like such a _couple_.

Luke looks down and starts pulling at blades of grass and mumbles “I like his hair.”

“Oh, Lukey. He has corrupted you. And you haven’t even had a conversation with him yet.” Ashton says.

“They’ve had one-sided conversations,” Calum says, pushing his long football socks down his shins and loosening his cleats. “You know the ones where Clifford insults him and he just stands and takes it.” Ashton brushes bits of grass off of Calum’s shin, and Calum’s face goes bright red. Luke rolls his eyes.

“He doesn’t do that anymore.” Luke mumbles.

“Since when? Yesterday?” Ashton rips open a bag of chips, offering some to Calum and Luke before eating them himself.

“You guys are jerks. He just wants help in math.”

“Just don’t let him take advantage of your super smart powers. You’re like, Batman and he’s Loki or some shit.” Ashton says through a mouthful of chips. Crumbs fly out of his mouth and land on Calum, who doesn’t even notice. Luke brushes them off for him.

“Batman is in the Justice League, Loki fights against Thor who’s an Avenger. You could have said Michael’s The Joker, or Penguin. Or that I’m Thor.” Ashton and Calum groan in unison.

“One day, Luke. Just one day without you nerding it up would be wonderful.” Calum complains, and Luke punches his thigh.

“You guys started it, I was just correcting you!” Luke grumbles, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and pulling his bag out of Calum’s reach as he tries to steal Luke’s homework from it.

“Oh, look, there’s lover boy, deliquenting it up.” Luke looks in the direction Ashton points. Michael is hanging out by the bike racks, his bright pink hair hard to miss. His blazer is tied around his waist, and Luke can see the sleeves have been ripped off his shirt. He’s laughing at something Alex said, his head thrown back and Adam ’s apple prominent and Luke can’t bring himself to stop looking.

“Ash, quick, while he’s distracted grab his History homework.”

Michael stops laughing, and when his eyes meet Luke’s, he smirks, raising his pierced eyebrow. Luke’s face flushes, but he doesn’t look away.

***

Luke’s sitting in the math room, textbook open and writing furiously in his copybook. It’s four o’clock, and Michael was supposed to be in the math room for his tutoring fifteen minutes ago. Luke’s not even surprised he’s late, but decides he may as well get a head-start on his homework while he’s waiting. He’s giving Michael until quarter past four, and if he doesn’t turn up, Luke is gonna go home and call they guys to come over for pizza. Maybe feel a little sad about not having one on one time with Michael, but the others don’t need to know that.

There’s shuffling from outside and then the door swings open, a red faced Michael bursting through. “I’m sorry, Mr. Jones, I was on the other side of the school when I realised that you were tutoring me today and not tomorrow so I ran all the...” He stops suddenly when he sees Luke sitting at one of the desks, the teacher nowhere to be seen. “What’re you doing here?”

Luke opens his mouth to respond, but Michael beats him to it. “You’re not getting tutored are you? Is showing everyone up in class not enough, gotta do it after school as well?” Luke tries not to sigh.

“Mr. Jones is busy, so he asked me to tutor you.”

“Oh, hell no. That’s not happening.” Despite his words, Michael drops his bag on the floor and sits on the table in front of Luke.

“Why not?” Luke asks, and Michael looks at him like he’s just insulted every member of his family.

“Look, I know you’re golden boy, but I don’t get this stuff. I need help, not for you to show off.” Michael bites at his thumb nail, his battered Converse (which are definitely not allowed – why is he never dress coded?) on the chair in front of him. Luke’s feeling a little angry, because he wasted his Thursday evening on this asshole and he’s already insulting him. So Luke tells him so.

“You know what? I wasted a half an hour here when I could have been at home. I agreed to tutor you because Mr. Jones is busy and has no time to do it. I’m not doing it to show you up, I’m doing it cause you asked for help. But forget it. Fail, it doesn’t affect me in any way.” Luke starts throwing his stuff into his backpack and he’s feeling proud of himself for managing to get all that out without choking on his tongue. He swings his bag over his shoulder, and doesn’t even look back at Michael as he heads for the door.

He has his hand on the doorknob when he hears a quiet “wait” from behind him, and turns to see Michael, messing with the hem of his shirt and not quite meeting Luke’s eyes.

“What?” Luke asks, and his face softens when he sees Michael. He looks kind of small, not the usual confident jerk he makes everyone think he is, so Luke steps away from the door.

Michael is silent for a moment, looking anywhere but at Luke, and when their eyes do meet, Michael’s seem to be pleading. “If I don’t pass the end of year exam, I can’t graduate and I have to repeat this year again. Even when I try and study, I fail the exams. I need help, Luke, and I know you’re smart, but I don’t know if you can help me. It’s embarrassing as hell hearing all your friends making college plans, when you’re not sure if you’ll get to go cause of one stupid subject.” Michael looks down at his shoes again, his shoulders slumped, and Luke crumbles because Michael just looks so helpless he really has no other option than to help.

Luke moves closer to Michael and throws his bag back on the table. “How about we go over some stuff and if I can’t help, I’ll ask my mom to tutor you? She’s a math teacher.”

Michael scoffs. “That explains it.”

“D’you want me to try and help you or not?” Luke asks and he’s getting a little annoyed again. Even when he’s trying to help, Michael acts like an ass.

“Yeah, ok. Yeah. Sorry.” Michael says, sitting on a chair this time and pulling a refill pad from his backpack. Luke slides into the seat next to him and takes his stuff out again.

“So what are you struggling with?” He asks, opening the textbook on the contents page so Michael can look through it.

“Everything. Literally everything. What even is this? Are these real words?” Michael groans and drops his head on the desk. “This is useless. Just fail me now.”

“Hey, c’mon, we still have three and a half months left. We can get you from an F to at least a C. Promise.” Michael turns his head to the side, looking at Luke through abnormally long eyelashes. His eyebrow piercing peeks out from his fringe and Luke wants to rub his thumb over it, but manages to restrain himself.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Michael asks, his nose scrunching up.

“What do you mean?” Luke asks, fishing through his pencil case, pulling out erasers, rulers and a couple of pencils.

“I’ve been an ass to you. Why are you even helping me?”

“Well, when Mr. Jones asked me to tutor, he didn’t say _who_ I’d be tutoring before I agreed to it.”

Luke is surprised when Michael lets out a little chuckle. “Makes sense.”

“Think we can make it an hour without insulting each other? We can cover simultaneous equations, they’re not too bad.” Luke bites at his lip, a nervous habit he picked up, and Michael nods his head in agreement.

“Sure.”

Luke reaches for a pencil the same time as Michael does, and when their hands touch, neither pull away immediately.

***

“So how did the date with the devil go?” Calum asks, throwing himself down on the sofa beside Luke.

“Great, actually. Only one insult the whole time. And I think he can do simultaneous equations now.” Luke says, flicking through the television channels until he lands on Friends, and pulls his school bag over to him. Then he adds, “And don’t call him the devil.”

Calum rolls his eyes, loosening his school tie and opening the top buttons on his shirt. “Any more tutoring sessions lined up? Should I get my tux out?” Luke just shoots a glare in Calum’s direction.

“But seriously, I don’t know why you’re busting your ass trying to help him. If it was the other way around he wouldn’t do it for you.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll never know that will we? Besides, I’m doing it for Mr. Jones. Reference letters are important, yano?”

“Yeah, you’re totally not doing it for one on one time with Clifford.” Calum throws his head back against the sofa as Luke pulls copies and his History text book from his bag.

“We have finals soon. And homework. You gonna do anything or just sleep on my couch?” Luke asks, flipping through the pages until he lands on the right one and places the book on the sofa next to him.

“We have three months until our final exams, dude. Stop overachieving, you make the rest of us look bad.” Calum’s voice is already heavy with sleep and Luke just shakes his head and starts highlighting stuff.

***

“So then all you do is take the number before x over, and divide to get the value of x. See?” Luke solves the equation, then looks up from his copy book to see Michael already staring at him. “What’s wrong? If you don’t get it, we can go over it again. Once you get this, algebra will make a lot more sense, ‘cause everything comes back to this.”

“No, no I do. You make it so easy.” Luke blushes and looks back down at the copy, Michael’s stare becoming too much for him. “I mean, I could never get these right before.”

“Yeah, well...” And Luke can’t talk anymore because Michael’s lips are so pink and right there, and Christ, he’s so far gone it’s embarrassing.

There’s an awkward silence while they sit and look at each other, only broken when Michael coughs and says “I got my last test results back.” He pulls a slip of paper from his bag. Luke notes that there’s a lot less writing on the paper than there probably should be, but at least this time there’s _some_ writing, and he feels a smile spread across his face. Michael slides the paper over to Luke, and Luke looks at the big “29%” in red marker at the top, and Mr. Jones’ note scribbled at the side saying he’s proud Michael’s improving.

“It’s not great, I mean, you’d probably cry if you got that, but it’s the highest I got all year, and I don’t think Mr. Jones has ever said he was proud of me.” Michael’s face is pink, and he’s biting at the skin around his thumb nail again and Luke’s heart flutters.

“No, Michael, it’s great. Really.” Michael scoffs, rolls his eyes and pulls the paper away from Luke. Luke notices he doesn’t just shove it in his bag, but takes the time to slide it between two books so it doesn’t get torn.

“It’s hardly great. It’s not even a pass.”

“Yeah, but it’s improving. The next one will be a pass.”

Michael smiles at Luke and Luke smiles back, and for a moment he forgets the only reason Michael even talks to him is because he’s tutoring him. “If I pass the next exam, I’ll buy you chocolates.”

“I like Reese’s.”

***

“I cannot _believe_ he’s going out with her,” Ashton says, pacing in the middle of the kitchen. “The only reason she asked him out is because he’s popular and plays football. She doesn’t even like him, she likes his status. And he knows this, but he still goes ‘cause he knows he can get a handjob out of it. It’s disgusting.”

“Yes, Ashton, it is.” Luke says, pulling the bag of popcorn out of the microwave and dumping it into a bowl. He grabs the bowl and a can of soda and heads into the sitting room, Ashton falling into step behind him, still complaining.

“And tonight of all nights. He _knows_ we watch movies on a Friday night!” Luke just drops onto the sofa, tuning out Ashton’s monologue. He hears it every time Calum goes out on a date. Calum always was the luckiest with the girls out of the three of them. Well considering Luke is gay, and he’s pretty sure Ashton is too (or at least bisexual), he doesn’t really have much competition. But Luke sighs when he realises he doesn’t have much luck in the dating department, and he feels sad for a second before Ashton is tugging on his elbow and whining “Luuuuuukkkeee!”

“Whhaaaaaaat?” Luke asks, shoving his hand down the crack between the cushions to look for the remote.

“You’re not even listening to me.” Ashton pouts.

“Look, if you like Calum so much, just ask him out already.”

Ashton sputters, and Luke can see the flush creeping up his neck. “I do not _like_ Calum. I mean I like him, but I don’t _like him_ like him. He’s my friend! I’m just concerned that these girls are using him, and he’s just gonna let them so he can get to third base.”

“Mhmm,” Luke says, as he manages to pull the remote, as well as some loose change and a hairpin, out from between the cushions.

“What about you and Clifford anyway? Still getting nowhere?” Luke knows that the question was only to pull him away from the ‘Ashton liking Calum’ idea, but it annoys him nonetheless. He’s sick of them bringing up Michael every time it gets awkward between them, or every time they need an example of how not to go through school. Luke loves them, but they need to lay off.

“Great.” He says, hitting play on the remote and hearing the starting music to Stand By Me.

“Have you had a conversation with him that doesn’t revolve around math?” Luke thinks back for a second, and realises that they haven’t actually had a proper conversation. Ever. So he doesn’t answer Ashton’s question.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Have you told Calum that you want to suck his dick?” It’s harsh, he knows, but goddammit, he’s sick of hearing how he and Michael are going nowhere fast, and how Michael is no good for him anyway. Ashton’s mouth is opening and closing, like he knows what to say but it just won’t come out.

“Yeah,” Luke says, popping a piece of popcorn into his mouth. “That’s what I thought.”

***

The five minute warning bell went off ten minutes ago, but Luke is still standing at Calum’s locker while Calum pulls his History books out his bag and replaces them with his English ones. Whenever he’s running late, he always asks Luke to hold back and wait for him because the teachers don’t shout at Luke for being late. Luke feels a little used when Calum admits to this, but he waits anyway.

“Aw man, Luke, it was so great. We went to the cinema, and then we walked...” Calum’s retelling of his date gets blocked out as Luke spots Michael across the hall, his pink hair hidden under a black baseball cap. When he spots Luke, he tips Alex, points over his shoulder in Luke’s direction and then walks away from his group. Luke only has a moment to process that Michael is actually walking towards him, which is weird because they never ever talk outside their tutoring sessions, and even though the halls are almost empty, Luke feels a little bit cool by association because Michael Clifford is walking up to him, and then Michael is standing in front of him, and Luke can smell his cologne and can do nothing but stare.

“Oh God,” Calum says, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “What do you want? Are there not anymore rules to go break? Or have you broken them all already?”

“Oh hey Hood, I didn’t even see you there. D’you not have any balls to go play with? I actually wanted to talk to Luke, if that’s okay with you?” And Luke’s knees do something funny when Michael winks at him.

“Luke’s late for class. You know, those things that people actually come to school for.” Calum grabs Luke’s elbow, tugging him to get him to start walking, but Luke just shrugs him off.

“I can talk, it’s only English.” Calum stares at him, and then moves to glare at Michael. Michael just smiles sweetly back at him, and Calum’s face is going red in anger.

“I’m gonna go on ahead, Luke. Don’t let him talk you into doing anything unsavoury.”

Calum turns and walks away, and Michael shouts “Miss you already!” after him.

“So, what is it you wanted to talk about?” Luke asks, fiddling with the strap of his backpack for something to do with his hands.

“I was just gonna ask if it was okay if we cancelled the tutoring session this week? I have a dentist appoint after school on Thursday, and I asked Mr. Jones and he said that was the only day the math room was free.”

“Oh,” Luke says, and he’s a little disappointed. He wasn’t thinking about Michael walking over to him to ask him to spend time with him or something after their tutoring. Definitely not. And now he doesn’t even get to spend time with him after school. Which he’s fine with. Completely.  

“Yeah,” Michael says, shoving his hand in his pocket. It’s then that Luke notices Michael is wearing black skinny jeans instead of the school approved black pant, and once he sees, he can’t take his eyes away from the way they shape Michael’s thighs.

He doesn’t even process what he’s about to say before he blurts out “Well you could come round to mine after your appointment. I mean, if you want to. You don’t have to, I’m not.. Nevermind.” He can feel his ears heating up and he just hopes Michael doesn’t notice the blush he can feel on his neck.

“Really? I wouldn’t be in the way or anything? It’s just, we’re kind of on a roll and I don’t wanna stop.”

“No, it’s fine. You can come round whatever time suits.”

“Man, Luke, that’s so awesome of you. Thanks.” Michael starts backing away from him. “I gotta get to class, but I’ll see you around six on Thursday? I think I know your address.”

“Yeah, ok, cool.” Luke shouts after him as Michael turns and starts walking down the hallway. “See you then!”

He doesn’t even care that he’s nearly fifteen minutes late to class, because his heart is beating so fast in his chest and all he can see is pretty green eyes and pink lips. Ashton looks at him incredulously when he sits beside him, and slides a piece of paper that just says _“what the fuck?”_ in black pen. Luke knows Calum told him why he was late, so he just sucks his bottom lip between his teeth and pulls his books from his bag. He can’t stop smiling and Ashton keeps looking at him during the lesson, but Luke keeps his eyes on the blackboard and takes down notes.

***

It’s six thirty, and Luke is running around his room, throwing t-shirts into drawers and fixing his stack of books. He picks up his Mjolnir paperweight looks at it for a second before opening his desk drawer and shoving it in.

“If you want him to date you, hiding all your geek now won’t help.” Calum says from Luke’s bed, where he’s sprawled out over Ashton’s legs and reading Rock Sound.

“You guys could help me tidy up a bit.” Luke says, picking an armful of plaid shirts off the floor and dumping them in the bottom of his wardrobe.

“I’d gladly help if you were trying to impress anyone else other than Clifford,” Ashton says, and from the corner of his eye, Luke can see Ashton twirling a strand of Calum’s hair around his pinky.

“I’m not trying to impress him, my room’s just messy.”

“You’re de-nerding it, Luke. And anyone you feel like you need to de-nerd for isn’t worth your time.” Calum says, and Luke just scoffs.

“He’s right, Luke. You know, I heard Greg from the chess team has a bit of a thing for you. He’s not an asshole. He likes Green Day. Want me to see what I can do?”

Luke takes a second to think _someone has a crush on me what_ before saying “No, please don’t.” He doesn’t mind the chess team but that’s a whole ‘nother level of nerd and he barely escapes getting picked on, and that’s only because he’s friends with Calum.

“Greg’s a bit weird,” Calum mumbles.

“As weird as Clifford?”

“That’s a different weird.” Calum say, and Ashton just nods. Luke just stares at the two of them.

“Please stop talking about him like that,” Luke says, going back to shoving clothes into his wardrobe. He’s about to say something else when there’s the sound of wheels going over gravel and a car door opening and shutting, and his hands are going clammy again. “Oh God. Out.” He says, pointing at Calum and Ashton. “Get out. He’s here. When I let him in the front door go out the back. Go!”

“I’m thinking we should stay and act as security. What do you think, Cal?” Ashton asks.

“Oh, definitely. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to our Luke, would we?” There’s a smirk on Calum’s face, and Ashton’s eyes are crinkling from smiling but Luke is in no mood to humour them.

“Get out.” The doorbell rings, and Luke’s stomach flips. He hears his mom shout that Michael is here, and he’s about to go downstairs and let him in when he hears footsteps coming up the stairs. And then there’s a rap on his door, and it’s opening and Michael is sticking his head in asking “Luke?”

“Yeah, this is the right room.” Luke croaks out, and his voice is shaky and weird and he wants to die.

“Hey. My mom knew where you lived cause she’s in book club with your mom. Did you know that?” He asks, and he’s got a little smile on his face and Luke feels ill. “Oh,” Michael says when he spots Ashton and Calum sitting on the edge of the bed smirking up at Luke. “Didn’t know it was a group study session.”

“It’s not.” Luke says, glaring at Ashton and Calum, who eventually stand up.

“Alright, alright,” Calum says, stretching and flinging the magazine on the bed. “We’re going.” He grabs Ashton’s wrist and pulls him towards the door. “You boys play nice now,” he says before shoving Ashton out the door and shutting it after them.

“So...” Luke says as they stand in the middle of his room, the silence awkward, and he kind of wishes Ashton and Calum were still here. Michael looks so different from when he’s in school and Luke’s mouth is going dry. He’s wearing a Metallica shirt under a plaid shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, ripped skinny jeans and black combat boots. Luke can see a tattoo wrapping around Michael’s forearm, just under his elbow, and he swears he’s getting an ulcer.

“I didn’t have you down as an All Time Low fan,” Michael says, gesturing to the poster Luke has over his bed, and Luke just nods because he doesn’t really trust his voice. Whatever cologne Michael is wearing is messing with his brain and he just wants to shove his face in Michael’s neck and inhale until he can smell nothing else but Michael. God, he needs to get a grip.

 “So, math.” Michael says, and Luke comes out of his daze.

“Yeah, I was thinking we could cover functions.”

“Yeah, I totally know what those are,” Michael says, but that little smile is back, and Luke smiles back at him.

***

“Break?” Luke asks when Michael groans and flops down on the mattress. The both of them were sitting on Luke’s bed, backs against the wall and textbook open between them, but now Michael’s face is buried in Luke’s pillows, and Luke wants to run his fingers through Michael’s hair because it just looks so _soft_. The dye has faded a bit, and it’s kind of a cotton candy pink instead of the harsh fuchsia it was when the tutoring started.

Michael just moans as his answer, and Luke gathers the copies and textbooks, shoving them to the end of the bed. “Wanna listen to music?”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

 “Sure,” Michael answers, his voice muffled by the pillow. “What you got?”

“My records are in the corner if you wanna look, I gotta go to the bathroom.” Luke lifts himself from the bed, Michael following him, and as Luke walks out the door Michael heads to the record player in the corner of the room.

After he’s finished, Luke washes his hands and splashes cold water on his face. He gives himself a second to catch his breath before heading back out to Michael. Through the entirety of the tutoring session, Michael’s thigh was pressed against his, their knees knocking every time one of them moved to get a little more comfy, and Luke was having a hard time breathing.

On his way back to his room, he can hear the introduction to Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah coming from his speakers and he’s a little shocked. He thought Michael would have gone for one of the Green Day records, or maybe the Misfits one he stole from his dad.

He opens the door, looking in the direction of the bed expecting Michael to be sitting on it again, scrolling through his phone or something. But he’s not there, and Luke misses him the first time he scans the room.

He’s sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the record player, the Jeff Buckley sleeve in his hand and his eyes staring at the vinyl spinning on the turntable. Luke almost feels like he’s intruding something and so coughs to let Michael know he’s back.

“Oh, hey. Sorry, I just saw this and I wanted to listen to this song. If you wanna change it...”

“No, it’s fine, I like it too.” Luke sits in front of Michael, and Michael’s eyes go back to the vinyl.

“This was dad’s favourite song,” Michael says, and then Luke remembers the whole thing about Michael’s mom dating the principal, and he never really thought about Michael having a dad before that.

“Oh,” Luke says, and he wishes he could say more because Michael looks a little broken. “Do you still get to see him?”

Michael laughs lightly and shakes his head a little. “He’s dead, Luke.” Luke’s blood goes cold, and he feels like the biggest idiot on the planet. He feels like vomiting, but Michael doesn’t even seem fazed, doesn’t look away from the record.

“Michael, oh my God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay. It was a while ago.” They stop talking then, the only sound Jeff Buckley, and Luke thinks that Michael’s finished talking about it, and he’s ready to ask Michael if he wants to get back to math because that’s the only thing Luke is confident he’ll be able to talk about, but then Michael sighs and says “I didn’t even know it was that bad. Not then. Mom didn’t either.” And Luke just looks down at his hands, afraid of seeing the look on Michael’s face. “He used to take me into the sitting room, and he had this record, the Jeff Buckley one. And he’d play that song. He promised me he’d get better, but I was thirteen, I didn’t know what he meant. He looked fine to me.” Luke doesn’t know what to say, so he sits and watches Michael watch the record, almost like he’s hypnotised by it.

And suddenly he gets it. He gets why Michael acts out. It’s not because he’s an asshole, it’s because he was hurt, and he’s built walls. And right now, one of them is crumbling. Michael looks so small, so vulnerable – even with the piercing and tattoos – and Luke’s heart breaks.

He knows he should say something. He wants to be able to hug Michael, pull him against his chest and rub his back, promise everything will be ok. But he can’t even look, and he just feels so useless. He hears Michael sniffle, and that brings him out of his trance, so he crawls over to him. He sits beside him, and he’s afraid to move, to do anything, because he’s not sure how Michael will react. But then Michael turns his head and looks at him with big watery eyes and leans against his side, his hair tickling Luke’s chin. Luke throws his arm around Michael’s shoulder and pulls him a little closer.

“I’m sorry,” Michael mumbles, running his fingers over the sleeve of the record.

“Don’t be,” Luke replies.

“I came over for tutoring and I end up crying on your floor. Who’d have thought?” He laughs a little when he says it and the mood instantly gets lighter.

“I’ve got Warning, how about when this song’s over we listen to that?” Michael looks up at him and smiles, his cheeks still a little damp, but he looks like his old self again.

“I’d like that.”

***

“You cannot be serious,” Michael says, arms flapping about to emphasise his point.

“What? They’re awesome!” Luke answers.

“Yeah, right. I cannot believe you just said The fucking Offspring are better than Weezer. I’m shocked, Lucas. I thought you were better than that.” But Luke isn’t even a little offended because that smirk is on Michael’s lips again, and his hair is all ruffled from when he runs his hands through it in the middle of his long rants. They’ve been discussing music for the better part of an hour, their math books forgotten on Luke’ floor.

“Oh, please. Weezer have like, five good songs.”

“As opposed to The Offspring who have nothing but chart toppers.”

“As long as we can both agree that Green Day kick both their asses, then we’ll get along fine.” Luke says, resting back against the headboard.

“I agree,” Michael says, stretching out on Luke’s bed, his feet by Luke’s hips and head down at the bottom of the bed. “Aw, man. What I would give to see Green Day live. Just once.” Michael says dreamily. “I bet Billie Joe is as handsome in real life as he is in pictures.”

“Yeah,” Luke agrees, and he’s too busy wondering exactly what Michael meant by that, that he misses Michael looking at him, judging his reaction.

“If they ever tour here again, we should definitely go.” Michael says, crossing his arms behind his head. Luke’s stomach flips at the “we”.

“Definitely. Wouldn’t miss it.” It’s quiet again, save for the low sound of Misery playing in the background. “Think we should get back to math?” Luke asks, eyeing the copybooks that were thrown to the floor when Michael lay down.

“Ugh, we’ve done enough for one day.”

***

“What time is it?” Michael asks as he turns the pages of the Rock Sound Calum left on the bed.

“Near nine, why?”

“Mom said she’s pick me up at nine. Better get my shit,” Michael says, pulling himself off the bed with a groan, tugging his boots onto his feet and starting to throw books into his backpack.

“We got so much work done tonight,” Luke laughs, and Michael nods his head.

“Could probably take my final tomorrow and ace it.” Luke stands from the bed then, grabbing Michael’s plaid shirt from the back of his desk chair and handing it to him.

“I had a lot of fun tonight, you’re a great tutor.” Michael says, and Luke is suddenly aware of how close they’re actually standing.

“Well, you know, you’re a great student.”

“I should uh..” Michael says, scratching the back of his neck. “I should probably take your number. You know, in case we ever need to reschedule again.”

Luke’s stomach is doing somersaults, and his heart is about to beat out of his chest. He’s surprised Michael can’t hear it. “Yeah, of course. I’ll put it in your phone.”

When Luke hands Michael’s phone back, Michael seems to be a _lot_ closer than he was five seconds ago, and Luke didn’t even think that was possible. But Michael is _right there_ , his green eyes staring right into Luke’s blue ones and Luke can’t look away.

“I mean it,” Michael says, and Luke can see the way his lips are moving, and he follows Michael’s tongue when it pokes out of his mouth to wet his lips. “I had a really great time.”

Michael leans in, and Luke moves in too, their lips only millimetres apart. Luke can’t breathe, his chest is tight, and their lips are getting closer and closer. Michael breathes out a “Luke,” and Luke shivers when he feels Michael’s breath fan across his lips. They’re so close, and Luke can practically feel Michael’s lips against his own when there’s a shout of “Michael sweetie! Your mom’s here!”

Michael doesn’t move away, just screws his eyes shut, and lets out a puff of breath. “Goddammit.”  Michael huffs out, and Luke honestly doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“I think that’s your queue.” Michael nods, and turns away from Luke, grabbing his bag and heading out the door. Just before he closes it he turns to face Luke.

“See you round, Hemmings.” And with that he shuts the door and Luke can hear his heavy boots as he descends the stairs.

Luke throws himself on his bed and lets a muffled scream into one of his pillows, and screams again when he realises it still smells a little of Michael’s cologne.

***

Luke is lying in bed, and is just about to doze off when his phone buzzes from his bedside table.

“nxt time, ull get a proper kiss gdnite hemmings ;)”

Luke smiles, saves the number and replies, “hope so clifford”

***

“What?!” Calum asks, ham sandwich forgotten in his lunchbox.

“Shhh,” Luke says, looking around to make sure they haven’t attracted unwanted attention.

“I’m sorry, but you’re telling me that Michael Clifford, _Michael Clifford_ , kissed you?”

“No,” Luke says, ripping a segment from his orange and popping it into his mouth. “I’m telling you that he was _about_ to kiss me and then my mom shouted up to tell him his mom was there to take him home.”

“That’s rough, bro. Cockblocked by your own mother.” Luke just nods solemnly and continues eating his orange. “Have you told Ash this yet?”

“Nope, was gonna tell the two of you today, but he’s out sick.”

“How are you coping with it? I mean, if you had’ve moved in a second faster, you guys would have kissed.” Luke hadn’t thought about that.

“I didn’t think of that, you dick.” Calum laughs, but it dies in his throat when he sees Michael heading for their table. He just smirks at Luke, and starts to pick at his lunch.

“What is it?” Luke asks, and turns around to see Michael walking towards them with a big smile on his face.

“Hey,” Michael says, sitting in the empty chair beside Luke and putting his bag on the table. “Where’s the other one?” He says, looking from Luke to Calum, who’s still smirking.

“Out sick,” Luke says, and even though Michael looks completely fine, Luke feels awkward as hell because the last time they were together, they almost kissed. And then those text messages. He feels like a twelve year old with his first crush.

Michael doesn’t say anything after that, just unzips his bag and pulls out a couple of packets of Reese’s Pieces and some Peanut Butter Cups, and dumps them in front of Luke. It takes Luke a second to understand, but when he does, his face cracks into and asmile and he says “No way”. Calum looks really confused, but Michael already has the test out of his bag and is shoving it towards Luke.

“It’s the algebra test from last week.”

Luke just stares at the big “45%” in the top corner with a doodle of a smiley face and a thumbs up.

“Holy shit, Michael!” Luke says, and he’s smiling at him, big and genuine.

“You actually passed?” Calum asks, and Luke throws a piece of orange at him.

***

Luke is feeling sick. They’re final maths exam is tomorrow, and although Michael has been passing the class tests, he’s worried that he’ll freeze tomorrow and forget everything that they covered. He’s already had Calum over, panicking about the exam. He hasn’t heard from Michael since their last tutoring session, and they haven’t even mentioned the almost kiss since that night, and Luke really doesn’t know what is going on between them.

He’s just about to go to bed when he grabs his phone and decides to be brave. He scrolls through his contacts until he finds “Michael” and types out “good luck tmrrw. you worked hard, ull do great.”

Five minutes later he gets a reply “thnks. u 2. do i get a good luck hug before the exam?”

***

It’s the middle of June, and Luke and Ashton are standing watching Calum play soccer. Luke doesn’t even know what team is winning, but Ashton whoops and cheers every time Calum gets the ball, and Luke thought he was going to knock himself out when Calum scored a goal.

There’s not that many people standing around watching the game, it’s not even on a football field, just in the middle of the big park. Luke watches Calum play, and he looks at Ashton and he can’t help but feel sad. This will probably be their last summer as responsibility free kids. His exam results and acceptance letter came in the post this morning, and this time next year, he’ll be up Adelaide. He already knows Calum got his sports scholarship for some college in Brisbane, and Ashton’s going to Perth to study to be a vet.

He’s ruining his own beautiful summer day, thinking like this and making himself feel sad, but he can’t help it. He’s been with Calum and Ashton for almost fourteen years, and it makes him feel sad that they’re all splitting up.

His phone vibrates in his pocket, and when he unlocks it he sees a text from Michael. “where r u?”

“park. cals got a game here”

“Who’re you texting?” Ashton asks, not taking his eyes from Calum.

“Michael,” Luke answers, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

“Should’ve known. What’s going on with you two anyway?” Ashton asks, turning to look at Luke and furrowing his brows. “You guys text constantly. And then the thing that happened when he came to your house. Not to mention his complete dismissal of personal space when it comes to you.”

“I really don’t know. And I wanna ask him about it, but I don’t wanna scare him off. But I don’t wanna be stuck not knowing for much longer. I’m going crazy.”

“I don’t know how to help you, bro. It sucks.”

“Yeah,” Luke mumbles. “It does. He didn’t even answer me when I asked if he passed math. What if he failed and it’s my fault and he hates me?”

Ashton just rolls his eyes. “If he text you five minutes ago, I don’t think he hates you.” Luke doesn’t answer, just tries to ignore the pain in his gut when he thinks about never speaking to Michael again.

He’s staring across the makeshift football pitch, and so doesn’t notice Michael running towards him until he’s got an armful of Clifford and a mouthful of green hair.

“Oof,” is all he can say when Michael runs into him.

“I got a B,” Michael shouts into Luke’s ear. “A B!”

“Good to see you, too!” Luke laughs. He wraps his arms around Michael to try and stop himself falling over. Michael just hugs Luke tighter, his face buried in Luke’s chest.

“You are my saviour, Luke Hemmings, and I am forever in your debt.”

“You did most of it yourself,” Luke says, and he can feel Ashton’s eyes on the two of them.

“Couldn’t have done any of it without you though,” Michael says, and Luke’s heart swells. “How’s Calum’s game going?”

“I don’t even know. I think his team is winning, but I could be wrong.”

 

“Oh yeah, mom’s going away for work this evening, so there’s a celebratory party at mine. You’re the guest of honour considering it’s thanks to you that I wasn’t murdered when my results came in. She’s leaving round seven, so you can come whenever.” Michael says when he eventually moves out of Luke’s arms, but still stands close enough so that Luke can feel his warmth against his side. “You and Calum can come, too.” He says, peeking out from behind Luke to address Ashton.

“We’ll be there,” Ashton says. “Congrats on passing, man.”

“Thanks.” Michael says, and he smiles back up at Luke. Luke wants nothing more than to lean down and press his lips against Michael, and he almost does it, but then Ashton is saying “Get a room, guys. Jesus.”

Michael laughs and removes himself from Luke’s side, and Luke suddenly feels cold, despite the hot sun beating down

***

It’s loud and sweaty, and Luke is feeling a little sad because he got here like, an hour ago, and he still hasn’t laid eyes on Michael. The furniture has all been shoved to the side to create a makeshift dance floor, and the room is full of people Luke doesn’t know. Most of them definitely don’t go to their school and they’re all wearing leather or denim and Luke feels a little out of place. Calum left them when he spotted the drinks table, and Luke hasn’t seen him since. He’s still on his first drink, but Ashton has been downing them since Calum left. Luke thinks they really need to sort their shit out, but he can’t really talk, given his whole situation with Michael.

“Aw man,” Ashton giggles, grabbing onto Luke’s shoulder to stop himself from falling over. “I’m not feeling too good, Lukey.”

“I’m not surprised, you’ve drank half the alcohol here.”

“I’ve only had a little bit,” Ashton pouts, and Luke kind of wants to pull the beer bottle from his hands and take him home and put him to bed, but he also doesn’t want to leave without seeing Michael. “You’re still sober,” Ashton says, poking Luke in the chest.

“I am,” Luke says. He doesn’t even want whatever drink is in his cup. It tastes like poison.

“Why?” Ashton asks, hiccupping. Luke just shakes his head, and swirls the contents of his cup. Avenged Sevenfold is blaring from the speakers, and people are grinding on each other in the middle of the room, and Luke can’t stop looking for messy green hair and feeling disappointed when he doesn’t find it.

“Wanna dance?” Ashton slurs, already walking away from Luke in the direction of the dance floor. He doesn’t bother answering, because Ashton is too far away and too intoxicated to hear him.

So he stands at the edge of the dance floor, and watches all the other people have a good time. He’s mad at himself because the only person that’s stopping him from enjoying himself is himself. He’s a little peeved that Michael hasn’t made an appearance (at his own fucking party, Luke thinks angrily) but there’s beer and other boys with multi-coloured hair he can drown his sorrows in.

He scans the room once more, deciding that he’s going to have a good time. He passed all his exams, he’s got a place in college; he should be celebrating.

So he downs his drink, grabs another one and goes to the middle of the dance floor. From the corner of his eye, he sees Ashton with some girl grinding up against him, so Luke leaves him at it and continues to look for someone to dance with. There’s a hot guy with a Mohawk making eyes at him, so Luke takes a drink and then pushes through the crowd until he’s pressed up against Mohawk. He smells of weed and alcohol, but Luke doesn’t even care.

And then there are hands on his hips, and a mouth on his neck, and he’s swaying to the music. But the mouth is moving up to his jaw, getting closer to his mouth, and the hands are moving in towards his crotch, and he can’t go through with it. He tries shoving Mohawk away, but he’s heavy and Luke is squirming out of his grip.

When he finally manages to pull himself free, Mohawk is giving him the dirtiest look he has ever received, but he only has a second to feel bad about it because he spots Michael, and his stomach drops, because Michael was obviously watching him with that guy, and his mouth is turned down in a grimace, and when Luke catches his eyes, Michael just shakes his head and walks away.

“Fuck,” he mumbles, and he tries to get out of the crowd but by the time he makes it to the edge of the dance floor, Michael has disappeared again, and Luke is going to scream.

But he did nothing wrong. Michael invited him here, and then doesn’t even bother to come see him. And Michael almost kissed him a month ago, and hasn’t said anything about it (they both haven’t, Luke then thinks, but he’s too mad because that look on Michael’s face made him feel guilty as hell). Michael is the one who always sends flirty messages, who practically sits in his lap whenever they’re together, who makes Luke’s heartbeat quicken and his palms all sweaty. They’re not a thing, Luke can kiss whoever he wants, and Michael had no right to look at Luke like that.

Except Luke knows he’s lying to himself. They are kind of a thing, just something they haven’t discussed, and Luke’s stomach turns sour when he realises he probably just ruined it. He groans, and he’s about to turn and walk into the kitchen when there’s a hand on his shoulder, and Calum is shouting “What’s wrong?” in his ear.

“I’m a fucking idiot.”

“Well, yeah. What did you do?” Calum asks, and Luke notices there are no purple bruises on his neck, nor are his lips kiss swollen which is weird for him.

“Think I just ruined it for me and Michael.” The words burn when they come out of his mouth, and he wants to punch something.

“I doubt that,” Calum says. “You two are so hung up an each other it’s ridiculous,”

“Yeah, well, he just saw me make out with some dude, and he looked really mad.” Calum just stares at him, and Luke feels about two feet tall.

“You _are_ a fucking idiot.”

“We’ve been dancing around each other for three months, Calum. And he didn’t even come looking for me tonight. For all I know he was away getting laid.” Luke swallows more of his drink.

“Well how about you go talk to him about it instead of moping here?”

“Because he’s some wizard or something and he can literally disappear.” Calum just stands by Luke, rubbing between his shoulder blades.

“I know me and Ash haven’t been all that supportive of you and Clifford, but you were right. He’s not that bad, and I think you should go talk to him now before it gets worse and there’s nothing you can do. Tell him how you feel, and if he doesn’t feel the same way, well at least you won’t be clinging on and getting hurt.”

“Yeah,” Luke says. “You’re right.” But he doesn’t move away from Calum. He’s terrified that Michael doesn’t want anything to do with him anymore, but he’s also scared in case he _does_. It scares Luke a little how much he wants to be around Michael all the time, and how he can’t listen to Green Day without thinking about him, or even turning up Weezer songs on the radio because they remind him of the first time he and Michael had an actual conversation.

He’s pulled out of his thoughts when Calum asks “Where’s Ash?” Luke points to the dance floor, and when Calum’s eyes land on Ashton, still dancing with that girl, Luke can actually see the colour drain from Calum’s face.

“What? Why? That’s so not like him. He never...”

“I think you should take your own advice, dude.” Luke says, taking another drink. Calum doesn’t say anything, just nods and starts pushing his way towards Ashton. Luke sees tip Ashton on the shoulder, and when Ashton turns around, they just stare at each other. Luke is about to turn away and look for Michael, but then he sees Calum put his hands on Ashton’s cheeks and crash their mouths together. 

When they pull apart, Ashton looks a little dazed, but then he smiles and pulls Calum into him again. Luke wants to clap or something, because fucking _finally_. The girl Ashton was dancing with just looks at them and shrugs before moving on to some other guy behind her.

Luke moves around the house, looking for Michael, but he doesn’t lay eyes on him once. He goes outside, and still Michael is nowhere to be found. He gives up, and goes into the kitchen. He rests his back against one of the counters and puts his face in his hands.

“Hey,” someone says, sliding up beside him. When he looks he sees it’s Alex, the guy Michael hangs round with at school.

“Um, hi?” Luke says, and he’s a little scared in case Alex is here to beat him up. He thinks he deserves it.

“He’s in his room,” Alex says. “He’s been up there all night.” Luke feels sick, he was right. He was down here looking for Michael while he was upstairs getting blown or whatever. “I don’t know what happened.”

“What?” Luke asks, suddenly confused.

“He was fine all day, you know, real happy with passing math. And we were up in his room when his mom and Stu came home, and he went down to talk to ‘em, and when he came back up he was just.. sad. I said we could cancel the party, but he didn’t want to. Said he’d be fine. And he was, for about half an hour. Then he went to his room. I managed to coax him out, but then he saw you with John, and went back up.”

Luke feels like shit. He can’t even look at Alex.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two, I don’t even think Michael does. But he’s not mad at you.” Alex pushes himself away from the counter and heads in the direction of the sitting room. When he gets to the door, he turns to Luke and says “His room is up the stairs, second door on the left.”

***

He’s standing outside Michael’s bedroom door, and the music from the party is still loud enough it covers the sound of his footsteps. He raps on the door a couple of times, and there’s a muffled “Alex, I swear to God,” and Luke just pushes the door open because he knows if he waits he’ll chicken out, and he needs to do this.

The blinds are pulled and the lights turned off, the only light coming from a small lamp on Michael’s desk. There’s a lump on Michael’s bed, where he’s curled up under his duvet. “Alex, I’m not...” Michael sticks his head out from under the duvet. “Oh. It’s you.” His eyes are red and puffy, his cheeks still shiny with tears, and Luke doesn’t hesitate. He shuts the door and walks over to Michael’s bed.

“I’m so sorry,” he says, and his voice sounds high and weird, but Michael just shakes his head.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Michael says. He flings the duvet to the bottom of the bed, and sits up patting the space beside him for Luke to sit down.

“What’s wrong, then? If this is about me and that guy, I swear, he’s..”

“No, it’s not.” Michael cuts him off. He looks down at his hands and it’s then that Luke notices he’s clutching an old photograph, obviously well handled. “Just something Stu said earlier. And getting my exam results. Just made me think of him, I guess. Made me wonder if he’d be proud of me.” Luke knows Michael is talking about his dad, and so moves a little closer to him on the bed. Michael catches Luke staring at the photograph, and so hands it to him, looking down at his knees.

It’s of a young Michael, about six or seven, missing his two front teeth and sitting in front of a Christmas tree. There’s a guitar bigger than he is on his lap, and he’s grinning up at the camera. Beside him is obviously his dad, they look so alike. He’s sitting on the sofa, a guitar of his own in his hands, and he’s smiling down at Michael. Luke can’t look at it much longer, it makes his chest ache, so he hands it back to Michael.

“It was a Monday, and mom was at some business conference in Brisbane the week before so she hadn’t been home in so long.” Michael starts, his voice scratchy and raw. “I was so excited for her to come home that day that I begged dad to let me stay home from school, but he wouldn’t let me. Anyway, he drove me to school and before I got out of the car he hugged me and told me he loved me, and I remember thinking that was so weird. By one o’clock I guessed that mom would be back, so I faked a stomach ache and walked home. Mom’s car wasn’t back, and I knew dad would be mad at me for cutting school, but I didn’t care.” Michael stops talking, and stares down at the picture in his hand, rubbing his thumb over his dad. Luke doesn’t say anything, just lets Michael continue at his own pace.  

“It was quiet when I opened the door, which was odd cause dad usually had music playing or the television on or something. I guess I knew then that something was wrong. I called him, but he didn’t answer.” He stops for a minute and puts the picture on the nightstand, leaning against a couple of old books. “I started screaming for him.” He can hear in Michael’s voice that he’s trying not to cry, but in the faint lamplight he can see a few tears fall from the corner of his eyes. He’s surprised when he feels tears fall down his own cheeks.

“I found him in the bathroom. The empty pill bottle was still in his hand.” Michael’s shoulders start to shake, so Luke puts his arms around Michael and pulls him in against his chest. He can feel his t-shirt sticking to his skin where Michael’s tears are landing and making it wet.

He’s not sure how long they sit like that, Michael crying against his chest and Luke rubbing circles onto his back. Eventually, Michael’s sobs slow down a bit, and when he talks his voice sounds raw and worn out. “I just wish I knew why he did it. He didn’t even leave a note. Why would he do that, Luke?” Michael asks, burying his face in Luke’s chest, and Luke just rests his head on top of Michael’s.

“He would be so proud of you, Mikey. He really would.” Michael laughs, low and hollow, and Luke hugs him tighter. “He would be. Anyone would be.” He takes a deep breath. “I am.”

“You are?” Michael asks, and his breath feels cold against the wet patches on Luke shirt.

“Of course. You pulled your grade up from a zero to a B in three months. You worked hard for something and it paid off. You could easily have said fuck it, and done nothing, but you went and asked for help, and look what you achieved. I’m damn proud of you.”

Michael moves away from Luke’s chest then, and he looks like he’s about to cry again. Luke pulls the sleeve of his shirt down over his hand, and uses it to pat Michael’s cheek dry. When Michael leans into the touch, Luke doesn’t move his hand away. He cups Michael’s other cheek in his other hand, and the two of them start to lean in.

“No interruptions this time?” Michael asks.

“No,” Luke says before he covers Michael’s mouth with his own.

Michael’s lips are a soft as they look, and Luke never wants to stop kissing him. Michael’s hands are tangled in his hair, and his scalp is tingling from Michael tugging a little too hard. When he opens his mouth to moan, Michael wastes no time in pushing his tongue into Luke’s mouth, taking control and deepening the kiss.

“Mikey,” Luke groans around Michael’s tongue, and Michael responds by moving back on the bed, laying down and using the collar of Luke’s shirt to pull him down. Luke pulls away for a moment to catch his breath, and when he looks down at Michael, all flushed with kiss swollen lips and messy hair, and Luke can’t help the moan that escapes.

“C’mere,” Michael says, tugging Luke down for another kiss, Luke swings one leg across Michael’s hips so he has better balance, and when their clothed crotches bump, Luke has to suck in a breath through clenched teeth.

“Luke,” Michael groans, moving his hips up to meet Luke’s, but Luke can’t reciprocate. He stops kissing Michael, just leans over him. “What’s wrong?” Michael asks, trying to pull Luke down for another kiss.

“We can’t,” Luke answers. “It’s just... Not right now.”

“Why not?” Michael runs his hands under Luke’s shirt, and Luke’s stomach clenches under the sensation.

“I dunno. It just seems wrong. You were upset.” Michael stares at him for a second before he starts to laugh. “What’s so funny?” Luke asks, genuinely confused.

“You’re such an idiot.” Michael laughs, and Luke takes a second to feel insulted.

“We don’t even.... We haven’t.....”

“Shut up and kiss me, Hemmings.”

So Luke does, and it’s so different to the kiss they shared moments ago. This one is messy and heavy, Michael’s tongue hot in Luke’s mouth. Luke can feel himself getting hard, and if the way Michael is rutting up against Luke is any indication, then he is too.

Luke can’t believe he’s allowed to do this, to run his fingers under Michael’s shirt as Michael’s tongue drives him crazy. He removes his mouth from Michael’s and reattaches it to his neck, sucking and licking while Michael squirms underneath him, pushing Luke’s hips down to create friction.

“Please, Luke, I need.. I need..”

“What do you need?” Luke asks, blowing on the patch of skin he was just abusing. Michael groans, his hips bucking up, and Luke can feel his hard cock through his jeans.

“You,” Michael says, breathless and needy.

“Oh, yeah?” Luke asks, and he can feel Michael fumbling with his belt and popping open his button.

“Yeah,” Michael pants. “Especially when you get all professory on me. ‘s hot.”

“Really? Didn’t think you, of all people, would have a thing for teachers.”

“Not teachers. Just you.” He feels Michael grab his cock then, and a moan rips out of his throat.

“Jesus, Michael. Warn a guy.” But Michael’s hand is moving slow and steady over his cock, and all he can do is screw his eyes shut and take it.

He’s moving forward, fucking himself into Michael’s fist when he hears Michael giggling. Which, while he has Luke’s cock in his hand, is not a good thing to hear. “What?” Luke asks, and even though Michael is sill giggling, he can’t help but move, Michael’s hand feeling too good.

“You’re glasses are steaming up.” And when Luke opens his eyes, all he sees is fog, so he pulls them off and flings them on the nightstand. Michael’s hand doesn’t slow once.

Luke feels close to coming far too soon, so he decides he better start working on Michael, shoving his hand between them and trying to open Michael’s pants. “Wait, wait a second,” Michael breathes out, and pulls at Luke until they’re lying on their sides and face to face on the bed. It makes it easier for Luke to get at Michael then, and when he gets Michael’s trousers down around his thighs, Michael hisses and moves his hips closer to Luke.

“Christ, Hemmings. You’re gonna be the death of me.”

Luke misses kissing Michael, so he brings their mouths together again. Michael sucks Luke’s bottom lip into his mouth, biting on it gently and making Luke whimper. He’s getting close, so he speeds his own hand up, squeezing extra at the tip and trying to bring Michael closer to the edge. It seems to be working, because Michael is whimpering into Luke’s mouth, his hips moving frantically.

“Luke,” he groans into Luke’s mouth, hot and wet. “Luke, I have to..”

“Come on, Mikey,” Luke says, and he watches as Michael shuts his eyes and opens his mouth in a silent scream before he empties into Luke’s hand.

It doesn’t take much for Luke to come after that, just a couple of thrusts into Michael’s fist. He removes his mouth from Michael’s, shoving his face into his neck as he rides out his orgasm.

“So much better than math,” Michael says, and Luke can’t help but agree.

***

“You don’t have to go,” Michael says after they get cleaned up. “There’re sweats you can borrow.”

“You sure?” Luke asks. He checks the time on his phone, 03:32, and thinks that waking his parents up at this hour would result in his death. And also Michael’s room is warm and comfortable and he quite likes the idea of Michael falling asleep in his arms.

“Of course. Unless you wanna go.”

“No,” Luke says, and he’s glad Calum and Ashton aren’t there to see the blush that’s spread all over his face. “I wanna be where ever you are.”

Michael smiles dopily at him before walking over to his chest of drawers and pulling out a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and throwing them at Luke. “Good.”

***

It must be near six or seven in the morning, because there’s sunlight peeking in under Michael’s blind and Luke can hear the birds staring to sing. He hasn’t been able to sleep. Michael is a firm, warm weight beside him, and Luke knows he looks like a creeper, but he can’t stop looking, occasionally running his fingers through Michael’s hair softly so he doesn’t wake him up.

Michael’s green hair is messy and sticking up, his mouth open slightly and drool drying on his chin. Luke is certain he’s never seen anything so beautiful. When Luke lifts his arm from around Michael’s waist, Michael groans and moves closer to Luke, subconsciously looking for him, and Luke can’t help but smile.

He feels weird. Almost like he’s ready to burst. He knows this is the happiest he’s ever felt, and he doesn’t want this morning to end. His heart flutters every time he looks at Michael, and his stomach is going crazy, his brain mush, his hands tingling.

He can hear people starting to go to work, the traffic getting a little louder. The sun is getting brighter, the pale light making Michael’s skin glow

He knows he doesn’t love Michael, not yet, but he’s so close to being there that it’s scaring him a little. He’s ready to give Michael whatever he wants, and stick his neck out because he knows that this is going to work. He’s not sure how he knows this, but he just does. Just like he knows his mom will ring him and scream at him down the phone asking where he is, and how he knows Jack and Ben will try their best to embarrass him when they meet Michael for the first time, and how he knows that the stars will come out at night and the earth will keep spinning.

And when Michael shifts in his sleep, his eyelids fluttering open and his green eyes searching for Luke, smiling when they find him, he _definitely_ knows.  

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know what that was, but I haven't posted anything in a month and yeah. I've literally had like, the two months from hell with college papers and finals and my internet deciding to fuck off for a while but wheey I'm finally done and I have google again. 
> 
> Also I got a Tumblr and I have no idea how to work the bloody thing but my name yoke is http://t1mburton.tumblr.com/ :)


End file.
